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Baby it's cold outside...

Last night my parents called…they wanted me to drive Twinkie up to their house sometime before Christmas. They were otherwise silent as to the purpose, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out some kind of Christmas-related activity requiring either A) Twinkie itself or B) Twinkie-style transportation. I explained that Saturday I could come up sometime in the early afternoon, not only for this über-secret activity, but also to give my Dad a little in-service on his newly received iPod.

Now, the other thought through my head was…um, Twinkie isn’t exactly a cold-weather vehicle. Not only should it not be driven in the winter (salt, sand, etc all work to ruin its finish) but we never completed getting the heater hooked up this summer. Why rush it, since I don’t drive Twinkie in the winter anyway? Considering that my parents were the people who helped me fix up Twinkie this summer - so certainly they understand the situation. If they are still asking me to bring Twinkie up, it must be for something good.

I woke up this morning and saw the weather forecast. BRRR! I took a nice warm shower before leaving, put on a few extra layers, zipped up the jacket and drove up to my parents’ house. I didn’t get really cold until a few minutes before I got up there. When I arrived, I drove up to the spot where Twinkie had been parked for all those years, turned off the car and proceeded to grab my stuff to walk up to the door.

I knew something was up when I heard voices…and both my Mom and Dad coming out the front door. They spun me around to look into the garage. (Duh, it didn’t even dawn on me that both of their cars were out in the driveway as I pulled up) As the garage door went up, I saw an unwrapped box with a gigantic bow on it. They (along with my Grandpa, who also chipped in) got me a Yamaha YHT-450 Home Theater in a Box!

I had put “Tuner/Speaker” on my Christmas List but hadn’t really considered anything quite this large, considering I’m in an apartment. However, from what my Dad told me (the family expert in these matters) this system should last me for quite a while. In addition, I can turn off/turn down the subwoofer so I don’t unnecessarily annoy the neighbors.

The rest of the afternoon, after I warmed up, we visited and I gave my Dad a little in-service on his new iPod. Explained to him what format he should consider ripping his entire CD library in, sharing the experiences I’ve picked up over the past few years doing the same. We then picked up dinner at the new Red Robin near their house and then we packed up the system and I headed back home.

The trip home was even chillier than the trip to their house, since the temperature had dropped down to 7 or so degrees from 22 earlier in the day. About halfway home I got cold…by the time I got home, I wanted nothing more than to get the system up to my apartment in the quickest way possible, make some hot chocolate and dive under the down comforter, which is where I am now.

And now I wonder…do I wait to open up the box until Christmas like a good little boy?